Halo 3 to see off PS3

By Ellie Gibson Published 16 May, 2005

So says Bill Gates, anyway.

As the battle of the next-gen consoles truly gets underway, Bill Gates has revealed his master plan for taking on the PS3 - a simultaneous release of Halo 3.

That's according to an article in Time magazine, which this week depicts the uberbigwig holding an Xbox 360 on the cover. The article includes a section which reads: “Note to the hardcore faithful: the next version of Halo will not, repeat not, be ready in time for the launch of Xbox 360. It will be part of the all-important second wave next spring.

“'It's perfect,' Gates says, radiant with bloodlust. 'The day Sony launches [PS3], and they walk right into Halo 3.'“

Er, that's providing Sony does launch PS3 next spring, Bill. According to recent reports, their new machine could in fact be here by Christmas. And if that's the case, Gates could end up with egg all over his grinning billionaire face.

Well, all should be revealed later today - Sony's pre-E3 press conference kicks off at 11PM UK time. Can't wait...

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (66) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • octo #1 7 years ago

    Will it be another late night at Eurogamer towers?

  • Machiavel #2 7 years ago

    "radiant with bloodlust" - excellent turn of phrase!

    /applauds

  • space_ace #3 7 years ago

    laughable.

  • oceanmotion #4 7 years ago

    Well the conference starts at 3.15am in UK time so they could get a few hours before hand.

  • ruttyboy #5 7 years ago

    What would be even funnier would be if people bought a PS3 and a copy of Halo 3 to play on it as they assume the advertising is part of the launch point of sale for PS3 :)

  • Azu87 #6 7 years ago

    Even if Halo 3 comes when PS3 is launched, it won't have any effect on me. I'll still buy the PS3 :p Halo 1&2 are probably the most overrated games ever (IN MY OPINION)

  • Teeth #7 7 years ago

    Stuff like this makes me sick, it's a good thing to have competition between consoles but this is just ghey school playground nonsense - I expect more from people like Bill Gates who should act in a much more responsible fashion for someone in his position.

  • Nemesis #8 7 years ago

    I'd say it's more a problem H3 coming out when the PS3 arrives. Personally. But the lad has to fight his corner, I suppose.
    Edited by 1 at 16/05/05 @ 15:15

  • jumpdeveraux #9 7 years ago

    It just shows MS, despite their bravado and dick waving, are still unnerved by what Sony may wheel out.

    Halo 3 won't be enough on its own if both consoles are priced around the same level. If MS dropped price under PS3 launch price then the fun would begin.

    /also imagines look on Bills face should Sony magically launch with a new Grand Theft Auto title...

  • drumbaby #10 7 years ago

    Msoft do seem to have rather a militant attitude. They've also got that twit Bulmer often voicing a similar kind of belligerent rhetoric...And the even more (annoyingly) vociferous Itagaki sitting in their pocket, slagging off this and that.

    I'm all for competition, but their blatant gunning-for-Sony attitude is bordering on pantomime, and sets them up for a big fall, if they're distant runner-up a second time.

    Is this all part of the 'thought war' (or whatever horrendous jargonistic bollocks it was) they've apparently won?

    :)

  • tonynibbles #11 7 years ago

    This appears to be a bit over the top to me. Are MS really putting all this confidence in to H3 already?!

    / gets well excited about 11pm tonight.

  • octo #12 7 years ago

    Good to see the inevitable Halo 3 confirmation albeit I'm sure bungie are slapping their collective foreheads. As for whether the sales of one would affect the other? Possibly, but not to any great degree and not in a way whereby one would undermine the other. It would also be a logistical nightmare I'd imagine.

  • ruttyboy #13 7 years ago

    "It would also be a logistical nightmare I'd imagine."

    It would be, that is if Sony actually did an adequate day 1 ship of the PS3, which, let's face it, is unlikely... @:)

  • ProfessorLesser #14 7 years ago

    Tit. Can I have a second-er?

  • red_devil52 #15 7 years ago

    One game, no matter how big, is not going to stop the biggest company in the gaming industry from selling their console.

  • SteVader #16 7 years ago

    Meh!

    Halo - who cares? Get over it Bill ffs it's not the be-all and end-all of gaming. I'm with you Azu87 I can take it or leave it...

  • kencleary #17 7 years ago

    You might think its childish nonense but unfortunately it does work. Look at the demolition job Sony did on the Dreamcast!

  • Kilters #18 7 years ago

    Cool your beans folks, surely we all benefit from this posturing?
    Halo 3 and PS3 on the same day (or near enough) warrants an adjustment of my budget. Although PS3 will probably be out 6 months later in Europe.

  • Mr.Small #19 7 years ago

    Hear hear, Azu87. The irony is I bought an xbox when it came out at its initial £300 price-tag specifically to play halo. I've never played such an overhyped but painfully average game as halo. I don't get it and never will. After completing it, I sold my xbox but unfortunately the price had dropped in the meantime. Needless to say, I smoulder with genuine rage. So screw xbox 360 and halo3 and roll on Sony.

  • symmetry #20 7 years ago

    Dry as a bone as usual Ellie :)

  • onyxbox #21 7 years ago

    I think Nintendo should release Mario Party 23 (or whatever) for GameCube when 360 launches... That will show 'em.

    :-D

    Seriously tho' I don't think Sony have too much to worry about just yet, especially with the proposed 360 software lineup. Most of the games seem like minor upgrades to what's already being played on XBox and I'm not sure how that will convince their existing user base its worth the upgrade... unless they launch at £150 with backward compatibility that is. Besides Halo 2 left a taste of bitter disappointment in the mouths of a lot fo off-line gamers, so I'm pretty sure Halo 3 won't be greeted with the same enthusiasm as Halo 2.

  • phAge #22 7 years ago

    What most people here fail to get is that Gates isn´t saying that Halo 3 in itself will stop the PS3 dead in its tracks, but merely that when faced with the choive of getting a) a 360 with the follow up to 2 of the most critically acclaimed games of the last (current) generation, or b) a PS3 with a potentially not very impressive launch catalogue - some people might be tempted to go for the former.

    Like Halo 1 & 2 or dont, but there is no denying that they are some of the absolute heavyweights in the console business - and a 3rd game is DEFINITELY going to have an impact on PS3 sales.

  • jumpdeveraux #23 7 years ago

    The key driver will still be the price point of the 360 hardware versus the PS3 when Sony launch.

    The formula is:
    Xbox 360 + Halo 3 Bundle = Price of PS3 hardware at launch (no game included).

    That will have all the non-hardcore in their target market thinking seriously which is better value.

    /cries

  • Beano #24 7 years ago

    So PS3 customers will walk in an shop and on pure instinct buy Halo 3 instead... riiiight ... LOL!

    Gates IS the new Trip Hawkins :)

  • WhiteSaturn #25 7 years ago

    The reason why this makes sense, at least for the US launch of the PS3, is that the Halo 2 launch was the biggest entertainment launch ever (or some similar phrase).

    Basically Halo 2 comllected more money on its first day than any other game or film. It was massive, something like $125 million if can remember.

    After it's launch the number of Xbox Live users also doubled, though they were all stupid bloody Yankie-doodle-do teenagers

    So even if the whole of Eurogamer doesn't like the Halo games, the rest of the world (well the big bit that reckons it runs it and is the biggest territory in gaming) does

  • phAge #26 7 years ago

    "So PS3 customers will walk in an shop and on pure instinct buy Halo 3 instead... riiiight ... LOL!

    Gates IS the new Trip Hawkins :)"

    Thanx for proving my point brilliantly. But then again life IS much more fun when you only see what you want to see, and understand what you want to understand.

    Carry on.

  • speedjack #27 7 years ago

    Bit of a stupid comment.

    It assumes that Bungie will actually deliver Halo 3 on time, which they never managed with 1 or 2.

    Then again, I assume that if it doesn't look likley they'll make that date they could always release the game with the singleplayer in unfinished state... sorry I mean with a 'cliffhanger' ending.

    But they'd never do that - would they ?!








    /just sayin'

  • Les #28 7 years ago

    I think Mr. Gates is not that smart after all. In my opinion, the Halo's are the most overrated games in the universe, but very effectively marketet by M$, I have to give them credit for that. If only the gaming media would be a bit more hype proof. But then again, if that's what the readers want...

    But if the PS3 is really way more powerful than Xbox360 (what a lousy name and I would even say that if I didn't hate M$) like rumour suggests, and Sony is able to offer it at a competative price, I think the 360 will bring even bigger losses to M$ than the current Xbox. Right now PS2 is outselling Xbox even though the hardware is less powerful and it costs more.

  • IronGiant #29 7 years ago

    "or b) a PS3 with a potentially not very impressive launch catalogue"

    Wow now he's psychic too.

    "Like Halo 1 & 2 or dont, but there is no denying that they are some of the absolute heavyweights in the console business."

    I genuinely believed that until i bought Halo2. Now i'm not bothered about part 3.

  • ProfessorLesser #30 7 years ago

    Overrated? Understatement!

    ;-)

  • Beano #31 7 years ago

    phAge : You should try to wake up!

    No game will hurt the launch of a major platform as the PS3 in any measurable way.. no matter how great it is. It's simply not possible.

    If MS launched Xbox 360 AND Halo 3 on the same day as PS3, yes maybe... but this is not the case.

    Most PS3 customers are the mainstream (like most PS2 customers are today) and they are not gonna be seduced by "a game on the other platform" as they are about to buy "the new powerfull PlayStation".
    This HAS nothing to do with which console or game is the best - this is pure marketing !

    Gates knows this of cource...

  • #32 7 years ago

    Hear hear, Azu87..I've never played such an overhyped but painfully average game as halo.

    Amazing what marketing and group mentality can do isn't it?

    After it's launch the number of Xbox Live users also doubled, though they were all stupid bloody Yankie-doodle-do teenagers

    Seem more like some in-bred do-hickies.

  • Lothar Hex #33 7 years ago

    Ten pound says Bill Gates has no idea what the bloody hell his own companies are doing, never mind Sony.

  • DB2k #34 7 years ago

    what worries me is that a title like halo 3 would only have a years worth of work on it I assume since beforethat they would have been doing halo 2? I thought halo 1 was poor and halo 2 was ok but still very over hyped. I got bored quickly anyway so pinning hopes to one game seems a little silly.

  • louyfitz #35 7 years ago

    Well I'm questioning my want for a PS3 as it is, and although bringing out Halo 3 wouldn't stop me buying a PS3 it may make my decision slightly easyer.

    I mean there isn't that many PS2 exclusives that pull me in, seeing as GTA will probably be on NextBox(much better than 360) there is no real point in having a PS3, when I can have all the best games and a Hard drive, Live and more features in the 360 /shudders at name


    /my opinion, feel free to argue

  • phAge #36 7 years ago

    @ IronGiant: Yeah - I guess youre right - I *do* claim to know the future. Otherwise I might have written "potentially" or something like that, to show that I am merely making an educated guess... Oh. Right.

    Judging by the launch titles of the PS2, this isn´t Sonys strongest sides, and while I fully acknowledge the fact that they might have learned from the past, I see no reason whatsoever to believe that they will have a launch game to rival Halo 3.

    But, again, the only people ridiculing Gates for saying that Halo 3 will kill the PS3 is - oddly enough - Sony fanb0is who need to believe that Gates is stupid enough to make such a statement.

    The rest of us simply read "Halo 3 will be a major asset for the Xbox 360 in the console-war - and launching it alongside the PS3 is bound to sway a lot of potential console-buyers".

  • IronGiant #37 7 years ago

    "@ IronGiant: Yeah - I guess youre right - I *do* claim to know the future. Otherwise I might have written "potentially" or something like that, to show that I am merely making an educated guess... Oh. Right."

    Yeah but you had to just make that comment didn't ya, Sony now have a massive challenge to their dominance of the market and you really think for one second that they're foolish enough to risk launching what is probably their most incredibly important piece of kit for many a year with crap games? Come on. Even an XBox fanboi of your stature can't believe that.

    I'm not ridiculing BG at all, he's one of the richest people on the planet for good reason, the XBox is good for gamers as it's raised the bar and competition for that space under the TV.

    I personally think Halo isn't the console selling asset that people like to believe, that is all. PS3 releasing with a strong line up of games including GTA would tempt just about every gamer, chav or not!!

  • ElephantMonkey #38 7 years ago

    Am I the only person who hates HALO and every other First Person Shooter? If Xbox's killer ups are all going to be FPS then I better stay away from it.

  • Yaz #39 7 years ago

    ^^^ No, there isn't a single game or genre in existence that somebody somewhere doesn't hate. And you can extend that to movies, books, albums, etc...

    Regarding Halo3, I don't see the problem, it's perfect timing and a classic tactic.

    Some here seem to have forgotten (or are unaware) that Sony did EXACTLY THE SAME THING with MGS2 (which some also think is overated), timing the release of their game to coincide with the launch of the XBox in 2001!!!

    MGS2 didn't stop gamers who wanted an XBox from buying the console, but by releasing such a high profile game at that time, gamers were reminded that the PS2 was still a force to be reckoned with.

    So whether you think Halo is overated or not doesn't matter, it's simply a high profile game timed to send the same message Sony sent with MGS2 back then.

    Geez, so lighten up some of you, it's not evil and it's nothing new! ;)
    Edited by 3 at 16/05/05 @ 19:01

  • OldWormsFan #40 7 years ago

    GTA PS3 launch pisses over Halo3....

  • drumbaby #41 7 years ago

    "But, again, the only people ridiculing Gates for saying that Halo 3 will kill the PS3 is - oddly enough - Sony fanb0is who need to believe that Gates is stupid enough to make such a statement."

    Who needs to believe that Gatesy is stupid enough to make such a statement? He's gone and made it. No faith required to spot that stupidity.

  • valli #42 7 years ago

    MGS2 didn't stop gamers who wanted an XBox from buying the console

    No, what stopped gamers from getting one was the 500 € price tag!
    Edited by 1 at 16/05/05 @ 19:33

  • Bates #43 7 years ago

    Heh, if Halo 3 is as good as Halo 2, then I don't think Sony have anything to worry about.

    Not they ever did in the first place.

  • ProfessorLesser #44 7 years ago

    IronGiant - not to pick holes or anything, but surely if people believe it's a console-pushing asset, then it IS a console pushing asset? I think I know what you're getting at - it's a killer-app on hype and not substance. But there's no denying that it shifts consoles.

  • Freek #45 7 years ago

    Hell, why stop there? Take a lesson from the rap world and go all "Eat side vs West side" with drive by shootings and stuff. ;)

    Would fitt in perfectly with the next GTA marketing campaign.
    Edited by 1 at 16/05/05 @ 20:06

  • captain-future #46 7 years ago

    Er, that's providing Sony does launch PS3 next spring, Bill.

    snickering. hehe. maybe he knows more than Sony?

  • captain-future #47 7 years ago

    next-gen PlayStation release in Q1 2006? he is a madman!

    I don't expect Sony to release the next PS before the end of 2006.

  • Feanor #48 7 years ago

    What a pack of nuts this thread has attracted.

  • davyuk #49 7 years ago

    Halo 1 didn't bruise PS2. Halo 2 didn't pop a cap in its skull either. So why do they rely on Halo 3 to finish the job?

  • freedumb #50 7 years ago

    GTA4 PS3 launch. Nuff Said.

  • Graeme_N #51 7 years ago

    Regardless of what the seething mass of fanboys have to say, this is actually a very shrewd move by Microsoft. Halo is big, probably the biggest franchise out there at the moment, and releasing it at the same time as the PS3 will certainly blunt its momentum. Sony would no doubt regain it when they get out the first PS3 Grand Theft Auto, Gran Turismo or Metal Gear Solid, but I don't think they will be ready at launch.

    The big risk for Microsoft is if Sony gets the PS3 out before Halo 3 is ready, in which case they will either have to abandon that scheme, or worse yet, release the game before it's ready (you know, like before Bungie actually put an ending on it *cough*halo2*cough*).

  • inpHilltr8r #52 7 years ago

    So they're going to do a rush-job on Halo 3, like they did with Halo 2 then?

  • gamesport #53 7 years ago

    Look Guys here is one thing you are not considering, despite the fact that Sony's PS2 biz is profitable, the company as a whole is at a $525m loss as this article point out
    http://www.latim es.com/technology/la-fi-sony28apr28,1,5488924.story?coll=la- headlines-technology

    On the Other hand, Even though M$ xbox biz suffered losses, M$ is still had profits of $2.56b as this article points out
    http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmp l=story&u=/nm/20050428/bs_nm/tech_microsoft_earns_dc

    So in esssence M$ can afford to make mistakes, while sony cannot.
    Now their sacrifice of loosing money on consoles, just to get into the market doesn't look like such a bad idea. They are going to make huge Bucks this time around b/c of all the hype/buzz, Jp Developers Signing on, and a 5-6 months head start
    Microsoft is in a better postion material wise, it going to be tought going for sony, b/c they even if Halo3 is not released in that time frame, M$ has the advantage now , sorry to spoil you party
    Edited by 1 at 16/05/05 @ 21:06

  • Graeme_N #54 7 years ago

    It's not about killing Sony, it's about clawing market share away from them.

    I used to think that the Xbox 360 might get Dreamcasted coming out just before the PS3, but Microsoft's got too many big guns for that to happen. I also think that Sony's got too much brand equity to fail in the next generation. I personally believe that the PS3 will end up as the top (in terms of market share) console of the next generation, but the difference won't be nearly as much as in the current one.

    Unfortunately, I think that if you're a serious gamer who earns his/her own paycheque, then you're going to have to buy both consoles if you want to play all of the best games. That's more or less the way it is this generation, already.

  • phAge #55 7 years ago

    Graeme_N is saying all the things I´d like to - but in a much clearer (and nicer) way, so I reckon I´ll just hop along. And I probably *will* end up buying both MS's and Sony's offerings...
    Edited by 1 at 16/05/05 @ 21:10

  • 3william56 #56 7 years ago

    Look at it this way - with the 360 concave, and the PS3 convex, if you stick the 360 on top of the PS3 at right angles, they'll make a lovely art deco uber-tech silver sculpture under the telly. Nice of them to co-operate so well!

    Bill's being a mongo if he reckons that the effect of H3 will be any more significant than MGS4 or the next GTA. But you've got to expect this from both sides. For all the fun we're going to have over the next 6 or so months or so in the lead up, we're going to have to put up with a unprecedented deluge of hype and bullsh*t from all 3 hardware manufs, and the pavlovian [insert console here] suxxorrs/roxxors/roolz/is d00m3d fanboi slaverings as well. >sigh<

    Oh well. It's going to be worth it when I have a monster stack of expensive silver technology under my telly.

  • brombeer #57 7 years ago

    How childish to think one game can stop a console like the PlayStation 3. Get a life Bill...

    //Not following the ant colony

  • Tweakmonkey #58 7 years ago

    Now that PS3 has been unveiled - will Bill retract that statement? ;-)

  • tonynibbles #59 7 years ago

    "Halo 3 to see off PS3"

    Somehow methinks thats total bollocks

  • drumbaby #60 7 years ago

    So....buy Halo 3 and my very first Xbox type thing....

    Or a PS3 and one of those many gorgeous-looking games at launch?

    Sorry Bill. See you in the next gen' after the next one, maybe?

  • Xerx3s #61 7 years ago

    Nooooooooooooooooooooooo, they are gonna rush Halo 3, arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! WE BE DOOMED! DOOMED I TELL YOU!!!

    FFS! If they fuckup the sequel to the best shooters ever, then im gonna personally smack billyboy in the face with an s-pad.

  • Genji #62 7 years ago

    Wow, so many Halo-haters. This is too delicious. I guess all those reviewers who gave the first two games such high scores were just joking, or at least very, very deluded. They were all suckered in, believing that they actually liked the game, when in reality, it was just as crap as... say, Daikatana. That's Microsoft mind control at work, folks. Imagine: someone actually liking a Halo game! HAHAHAHA! *wipes tear*

    For the record, I liked the games, and played Halo 2 online. Guess I'm just a Yankee-doodle idiot, like all the rest of them. Even though I'm not American.

  • Tonka #63 7 years ago

    HALO 3 ptbtbbbtbtbtt...
    I'll by whichever console plays the next Metroid

  • Killerbee #64 7 years ago

    I hope Bill's got more up his sleve than Halo 3. Don't get me wrong, the Halo franchise represents a decent lineage of first person shooters, but Halo 3 is not going to persuade me to buy an Xbox 360 all on its own.

    Games sell consoles, undoubtedly, but whereas Sony can point to Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, Gran Turismo, Singstar, Jak, Ratchet, and not forgetting Grand Theft Auto without the wait and Nintendo can boast about Zelda, Metroid, Mario + all his derivatives, and the strong likelihood of some decent Japanese RPG support, Xbox 360 has Halo 3 and ....?

  • brombeer #65 7 years ago

    Azu 87:"Even if Halo 3 comes when PS3 is launched, it won't have any
    effect on me. I'll still buy the PS3 :p Halo 1&2 are
    probably the most overrated games ever (IN MY OPINION)"

    Err..WRONG! That was Jade Empire :)
    See a red thread in here...err...weren't they all from Microsoft Games Studios har har har...that is..from studios bought by Microsoft (which I'm sure they will regret now, being part of the Zen universe...)

  • deaddwarf #66 7 years ago

    releasing it at the same time as PS3 would be a big mistake.